As magnetic recording disk files become more and more compact, heat dissipation from electronic circuit components becomes an increasingly serious concern. In actuator assemblies heretofore proposed, it has been customary to dissipate heat via an aluminum block that is attached to and supports at least one head/arm assembly. However, this heat dissipation technique can cause thermal distortion of the head-supporting arms of the assembly.
Commonly assigned co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 07/510,484, filed Apr. 18, 1990, discloses an actuator assembly comprising a sleeve that is mounted over, and slides with clearance over, a stator that has ports for delivering pressurized air to the clearance space to create an air-bearing. However, this configuration does not provide cooling air to dissipate heat generated by the various electronic circuit components.
There is a need for an improved actuator assembly wherein (1) an element, such as a canister, that is not connected directly or indirectly to the head-supporting arms of the actuator assembly, dissipates the heat generated by electronic circuit components so that heat is not transmitted to said arms and thermal distortion is thereby avoided; (2) the canister is mounted with clearance over a stator-surrounding sleeve and attached thereto at a minimum number of points to permit cooling air to flow through the clearance space to enhance heat dissipation; and (3) a flat conductive cable that provides electrical connections to the head/arm assembly is secured to only three sides of the canister to simplify mounting of components and reduce the length of the leads between the heads and circuit components.